


sit, stay, good girl

by emissaryarchitect



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, not kinky so don't get your hopes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 13:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5667907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emissaryarchitect/pseuds/emissaryarchitect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love and loyalty aren't the same thing, but they're close enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sit, stay, good girl

She had always known she was a gift – since the day she was manufactured and carefully evaluated, she had been told her entire existence was to please and assist. When she trained, it was to be as elegant and beautiful as possible for her owners. She knew little else than her training, of basic gem history – she had no sense of “self”.

Her earliest memory of a diamond was of gold.

Yellow Diamond was massive, but the Pearl felt no fear. She climbed into her palm as the diamond looked over her critically, eyes sketching over her tiny, fragile form.

“Can you dance?”

She nodded solemnly, standing and going on the edge of her toes, extending her arms before bringing them into her chest graceful as water and twice as elegant. The diamond was not impressed, holding her hand out farther so that the fresh Pearl had more ground to perform – as large as she was, that did not mean her hands were gigantic.

“How long can you hold a pose?”

She did not respond, blinking in confusion.

“ _Speak_ – we created you with a voice, as small as it may be.”

That was the first command she learned from a diamond – speak. She replied in a voice she could not recognize as her own “I do not know.”

“Then we shall see.”

She stood and held her hands down and across her chest, the symbol of the diamonds, crossing her feet, before going completely still. Yellow Diamond watched her with intense eyes, churning like the core of a volcano, scathing to the touch and leaving shadows in the Pearl’s eyes when she blinked.

She did not know how much time passed, as she focused on her directive. She felt statuesque, like a mannequin meant to display things, or a doll to put on a shelf. How curious and alien her first thoughts were as she scrabbled to place her mind in a place where she could think without being overwhelmed.

Eventually, her thumb on her right hand twitched and Yellow Diamond commanded “Cease.” The Pearl would have liked to collapse in on herself, for her limbs felt stiff as steel, but instead she resumed a casual standing, putting her palms together, awaiting her next order.

“How old are you?”

“I have not yet reached my first year.”

“Yet you have already mastered the basics of Pearl training. You know of elegance and dance, and I believe that will be good enough for her – she also likes customizing her gems herself, so I suppose you shall do nicely, being so new.”

The Pearl did not respond, blinking owlishly.

“You have no questions?”

“There is nothing to question,” she answered softly, hands clasped at her collar “I am a Pearl. By definition I know of my fate.”

The Pearl then saw Yellow Diamond smile for the first time, and her lips pulled back cruelly to show perfect teeth, her cheeks punctuated by a sharp jawline and a gaze so intense it could set fires.

“You will do _very_ nicely.”

Pearl did not see her instructors or fellow Pearl’s again, after that. Yellow Diamond strode forward with the creature still balanced in her palm, and they boarded a ship so vast in size that the Pearl felt monumentally small and glass-like in her fragility.

She was, of course, _exactly_ that – Pearls were not created for battle or the harshness of war, or building new empires. She was as small as she felt, and that realization was a comfort to her. She would never have to fight, never have to battle – the most she would have to do was keep diagnostics and answer calls, probably.

“I don’t care for dancing,” Yellow Diamond began speaking as she set coordinates on a data pad for a planet, not looking at the Pearl in her palm. “My sister is far more materialistic than I, however… her saving grace is her ruthlessness. It keeps her from getting sentimental.” The Diamond glanced down to the Pearl, who still held her hands clasped together in a sweetly innocent fashion. “What have your teachers taught you?”

“Basic gem history, the prime directive, dance, etiquette-”

“Not _enough_ for her tastes,” Yellow mumbled idly, cutting off the Pearl as the ship began to groan underneath them, crawling through space. “My sister will be unsatisfied with your knowledge, she wants a constant companion, not just a doll like White would. Here,” she pulled up a large screen, floating in the air daintily “Read this. Stay.”

Her second command – stay. The diamond set the Pearl on one of the datapads and left to investigate other duties. The Pearl did as she was bid, and she absorbed the information at a rate that would impress even that one pearl in her unit whose gem was so prettily placed behind her shoulder-blades. She wondered, idly, as she read through the history of gem culture in detail, if she was impressing Yellow Diamond.

She decided not to think of it, and read from tab to tab, even reading through information she was unsure if the diamond wanted her to read, until the matriarch returned and all of the files had been opened and read through.

“You read through it?”

She nodded, her legs folded underneath herself, her hands on her lap.

“ _All_ of it?”

She nodded again.

“I did not tell you to read all of it.”

“You did not tell me otherwise, either. You stated my Lady wanted to be as knowledge as possible, so I in turn read as much as possible.” She stood up, light and breathy as a spider-web on a wind, and bowed downward, head low. “If I have committed an error-”

“Good enough,” Yellow Diamond said, putting a finger to her lips, curling them around her chin in contemplation. “She will like a gem who can talk her way out of a situation, should the need arise. You will do. Come.”

Come – she stepped forward, back onto Yellow Diamond’s palm. The bay doors opened, and they stepped out into a cold looking hallway. The walls were being worked on by Ametrines, known for their artistic prowess, carving out images of the Diamonds, painting them and sealing them in glass.

They all bowed when the Diamond stepped past them, but the leader didn’t pay them any mind, stepping up the stairs that would be dangerously large to any other gem. She stopped and looked down at the Pearl. “Curl yourself into a ball. When I open my hand again, make an entrance.”

She lie downwards, her nose brushing the diamond’s palm, knees to her chest and her arms cradling around her, and fingers curled over her and she was entrapped in darkness, the digits squeezing her to keep her covered. The diamonds were large, but not so much that she was easily hidden. She heard shifting and stepping, before “I thought you might be here.”

A voice she didn’t recognize spoke up – “I will be back to my colony once I finish inputting the signals White wanted. Why are you here?”

“For a celebration. Your colony is almost completed.”

“Oh? What kind of a celebration?” She heard a dulcet laugh. “I know you are not so fond of music, nor dance.”

“True. Both are wastes of time. But I think _this_ one will fill your quota well enough.”

The fingers around her loosened and she stretched herself upwards on one foot, her other extended  before bending as she used her arms to spiral up into the diamond loyalty pose. She stood completely still after that, her form rigid but showing no stiffness.

“You got me a _Pearl_? How impractical of you!” Pearl finally looked up to see a being of ivory blue, the night sky, shining and dark trapped in skin and a sweet smile. She could not see the diamond’s eyes, but her hand was as large as Yellow’s – far gentler though, as she picked up the fresh gem. Her skin was velvety in texture, and the Pearl wished she felt a little more of it as her should-be owner looked her over.

“You look so nervous. Sit and relax-”

The moment she had said _sit_ , Pearl’s legs folded up like petals twisting inward, and she braided her fingers together on her lap as she settled into her palm, leaning into the diamond’s wrist a little.

“How well trained. How long have you been preparing her?”

“Not long at all – I wanted you to have the pleasure of doing the hard parts, but I would not have given her to you had she not been exceptional.”

“An exceptional Pearl? I doubt it, but I appreciate the gift.” Blue Diamond stared at the Pearl, smiling a little. “I would have liked you better in blue, and with longer hair, more like water… and perhaps a better skirt, I never liked the pattern for first generations. Can you do that?”

She nodded as the diamond squeezed her until her form burst, her gem tiny and fragile.

It would be only a few hours later that she regenerated, wearing a skirt clear and liquid as water, her skin blue and sweet as a summer spring. She made her hair loose, not at all stiff and shaped like most other Pearls, and when she finally stabilized, she was on a ship with Blue Diamond.

She was looking over her details incredulously. “Pretty, but breathable. Nicely done,” and Blue Diamond reached down, carefully, and ran her fingers through the Pearl’s hair. She pressed against the touch, alien but positive, and the Diamond laughed faintly. “You shall stay by my side, and I will speak to you of things only the Diamonds should know. You will listen to me and never stray. You will be loyal,” she traced the Pearl’s jawline “and you shall be my Pearl.”

“Yes, my diamond,” the Pearl replied, clasping her palms together.

The Pearl attended various meetings, a silent supporter of her diamond. On more than one occasion, Blue would reach down and caress her head or throat as a way of quelling her own anger or frustrations, even to the point that the Pearl knew when to pick up her skirts and dance for her diamond.

During one meeting, Blue’s knuckles turning white as Rose made another rash and strange statement, the Pearl stood daintily and leaned her face on her diamond’s hand, gracefully upturning a leg so that she looked smooth as silk while she lent Blue her support.

White spoke up – “You are too reliant on your Pearl, Blue.”

“Or perhaps you’re upset that your Pearl likes Rose better than you,” she replied curtly, and it was true, for the pearl with her gem placed on her brow was not with White, but had stealthily moved across the room to join with the smallest of the diamonds, and by far the strangest.

Yellow smiled wide, leaning her elbows on the table and linking her fingers in front of her face. “You ought to know how to choose a Pearl, White.” Yellow had been increasingly proud every time Blue brought her Pearl to a meeting, and her ego was almost visibly stroked when the Pearl would obey orders so swiftly that the other Pearls were left spinning.

White frowned, but she did not look wholly upset. “Then why haven’t _you_ a Pearl yet, Yellow?”

She blinked, the smile vanishing as quickly as it arrived. “I don’t really want one. They seem like such trouble to train, and what messes they can make, being so high with status.”

“My Pearl has yet to make any such dire errors,” Blue quipped “and if your eye for servants is so honed, you might select one that is flawless as the one you gave me.”

Yellow leaned back, rolling her shoulders, a deep grimace painting her golden features. “ _Might_. _Maybe_. _Perhaps_ ; I don’t like variables that are based on luck. No, I will forfeit my chance for a worthy pet for working clockwork, thank you kindly.”

Blue picked up her Pearl and set her on her lap, simply holding her, feeling the weight of bones thin as spun glass. “If we’re through, can we progress with the meeting? Earth is such an opportunity, we cannot waste it!”

“This is completely true,” White agreed, gesturing bone white fingers to a hologram, produced by a peridot off on the side, waiting for cues. “The amount of carbon and its position to the sun is an ample chance to expand our empire.”

“But what of the organics already evolving on the Earth?” Rose asked, all her hair and soft edges turning to the other Diamonds.

Silence flooded the room; White blinked owlishly, Yellow looked across the table to Blue as she shrugged – Blue’s Pearl replied in a high, lilting voice “What _about_ the organics?”

White cracked a smile, showing teeth like flat shards. “Well spoken, small Pearl. What _about_ them, Rose? We’ve never cared before. Why start now?” Rose opened her mouth and then shut it, looking off to the side while leaning her hand to her mouth.

When the meeting adjourned, Blue was sitting silently stroking her Pearl’s head. “My Pearl,” she asked slowly “did you see anything strange about today’s meeting?”

“Rose is acting different,” she replied monosyllabically, her tones not showing her emotion, had she any. “Her ideals are shifting.”

“What would you do, if you were me, Pearl?”

She thought for a long moment, her intentions hidden by an expressionless face and an unmoving, rigid body, before finally replying “I would not outwardly show I mistrusted her, but I would not give her any projects I was working on for fear of her recent… change of heart.”

“You are wise as you are obedient, my Pearl,” Blue commented aloud. “Sit.”

She sat on the ground instantly, her skirt like ripples of a gossamer stream around her ankles.

“Good girl.”

The Pearl was loyal to her Diamond and her Diamond alone – she heard things only Diamonds should know, and kept them secret – she was her Diamond’s pet, and she knew nothing else.

///

Blue sat, silent, her fingers curling fistfuls of the cloth that was swathed over her, her shoulders hunched. Yellow had long since stormed out, followed by White who was determined on taking Rose’s subjects aside to recondition them.

Pearl strode up to her, quiet as a butterfly’s wingbeat, stopping momentarily to put her hands to her chest, feeling her own gem.

Rose had betrayed them. She fled with White’s Pearl only a few hours earlier, deeming the Earth under her protection. They didn’t know who else she took with her, or why she would do this.

Blue reached up and tapped the console again, replaying Rose’s message – _The Earth is under my protection, and no gem shall harm it!_

She tapped it again.

_-The Earth is under my protection-_

She tapped it again.

_-The Earth is-_

She tapped it again.

- _The Earth-_

Suddenly, her hand curled into a fist and descended onto the console, shattering the screen and snapping the supporting metal, causing it to collapse inwards, debris scattering over the floor. Rose’s voice, the words “ _my protection_ ,” glitched in and out, sharp as shards and overlaying in an unpleasant way. The console was sparking in the dark room, flashing green against the matriarch as she sat silently.

Pearl finally walked up to her diamond, and for the first time she saw her Lady’s eyes. They shone like stars, her pupils pale and white as silver, her irises such a pure, sweet azure they seemed to carve up the colors around them, framed by thick lashes. They were laced with moisture, and Pearl put a hand on Blue diamond’s leg.

“She betrayed us.”

Blue picked up the Pearl delicately, and the servant pressed her cheek against her Lady’s collarbone. “Why would she do this?” she asked to her diamond, putting her small hands to her chest. “Why would Rose do this?”

“If I knew I would ask her,” Blue replied listlessly, putting a hand to her Pearl’s back. “She risks everything we have built. Everything we sacrificed – everything! For one measly planet, a smudge on the galaxy!”

Blue’s chest was heaving slightly from yelling, the most level-spoken of the diamonds finally snapping, and she was not used to the emotion _rage_. It frightened Pearl. She had never seen her matriarch lose control before, and she reached up, stroking the Diamond’s cheek, much like the Diamond had done for her.

Blue’s eyes fluttered, and the Pearl thought to herself _what a pretty Diamond I have, smooth and cold as water._ It was true – her cheek was cold as ice.

Pearl moved to get up, but Blue said “Stay,” so she did.

She stayed.

It was all she could do.

///

The rebellion was beginning to turn from bad to worse – Blue Diamond had gotten so desperate she called her only Sapphire to the mantle, a rare gem with the ability of foresight.

Pearl listened as well – she knew enough that she had significant power over a good portion of Blue’s gems, but she would never exercise it. According to the Sapphire, the attack would be severe. Taking out rubies was hard enough, as they were a foolhardy and passionate gem, but attacking the seer? Why?

The attack started, and Pearl watched the steel partition surround her and her diamond – even though she had no reason to doubt the court member, she still watched for any other rebellion member rising from the shadows.

But the prediction was wrong, and Pearl did not show her shock when the unholy fusion showed herself, made of candied pinks and cool blues, of patched clothing and unbalanced eyes.

She could see Blue Diamond’s rage rising, her shoulders going taut and her jaw squaring, but there was no room to dance, and no time to talk. Blue’s wrath would be unbridled, her frustration at its peak, and the Pearl watched on as she decreed death to the Ruby.

However, the Sapphire and the remaining Ruby fled, much to Blue’s chagrin, and the partitions closed so that she might speak with her Pearl in private.

She drummed her midnight fingers against the arm rests, bobbing one of her legs. “Pearl.”

She looked up, hands clasped, waiting for her orders. Perhaps she would sit, or stay, or dance today.

“Tell me a story.”

No, today it was _speak_.

Pearl stepped forward, and opened her mouth. “I am poor at making stories, my lady. May I tell you one I read once, a long time ago?”

“You may.”

“I had read that when the universe was new, there was only one gem – the Black Diamond.” Blue’s head moved ever so slightly to listen, putting up a hand to lean her chin on. “That this Black Diamond was the strongest of her race, but the only one – so that her race might continue and thrive, she shattered herself into pieces, and from them the first Gems began to thrive.”

“Four,” Blue corrected softly.

Pearl blinked.

“She shattered herself into four pieces,” Blue continued “and she would not have tolerated this kind of treason.”

“So it’s true?” Pearl asked, gliding around the Diamond’s knee to look up at her more easily “The Black diamond-”

“Where did you read this information?”

Pearl cocked her head. “Yellow Diamond gave me a series of gem histories to read before I was accepted as your Pearl, my Diamond. I assumed it was myth.”

Blue sat up straight. “It _is_ a myth.”

Pearl looked down and bowed, sweeping a leg forwards in a regal fashion. “Of course, my diamond. Just a myth.”

They sat in silence as Blue went through a few more diagnostics. “What did you think of the renegade Pearl?”

“She is frightening,” the Pearl replied honestly, inclining her head. “Pearls were not built to fight, and yet she refuses to be what she was made to do. I felt shivers when I saw her attack the Quartz’ soldiers,” she admitted.

“If you had to choose, what would you do with her?”

Pearl put her hands to her cheeks, thinking with a hum. “I would have her eliminated. She is disrespecting Pearl’s everywhere and risking our reputation and status.”

“Then I shall do the same to my fellow Diamond, _Rose_ ,” Blue replied, and Pearl blinked rapidly, lowering her hands. “She cannot be saved.”

The Pearl thought about the renegade, defying her purpose and logic, wielding twin blades and slaughtering their people, and she nodded.

“She cannot be saved,” she repeated.

“Good girl,” Blue said aloud, leaning over, the titan of a gem stroking the Pearl’s head. “Sit and stay.”

Sit, stay, good girl – the Pearl wondered what commands the renegade took from Rose.

Or if she took orders at all?

She gasped at the thought, running her hands down her forearms. How frightening! No orders, no purpose, no owner – the Pearl’s solace rested exclusively in the hands of her Diamond, and she had accepted it.

She looked up, and spoke without being told to.

“Blue Diamond?”

Her diamond turned slightly.

“White and Yellow could use some loyalty,” she suggested aloud. “Perhaps it is time to gift a new generation of Pearls.”

Blue blinked once before looking away, stroking her console, sending out plans.

“When I want your recommendations, I will ask for them.”

Pearl dipped her chin. “Yes, my diamond.”

///

“Are you certain?” Blue asked, looking at the new Pearl, stiff and fidgeting. “She looks too anxious for my tastes.”

“She is eager to serve, and has already memorized much of the communication lines and basics of management,” the Pearl replied, almost swimming around the new gem with the delicacy of her movements. “She will punish herself for her errors more severely than Yellow Diamond would.”

Blue looked her over. “I will not have my sister-gem be given a faulty Pearl.”

“She was created in the same system as I; she cannot be faulty.”

Blue laughed weakly, short and stiff, as though it had expired long ago. “I didn’t realize you had an ego, my Pearl.”

“No ego – just facts. Is the sector of our birth not the best breeding ground for pearls?” She asked the new Pearl, who replied “Statistically, of course!”

“ _Statistically_ ,” Blue snickered. “I take it back – she’s perfect for Yellow. New Pearl, can you sing? Dance?”

“No, but-”

“You’ve made the cut. Let’s see if your owner will like you at all,” and almost instinctually Blue reached down and lifted her Pearl up to sit on her shoulder, and press against her face, whispering ‘myths’ into her ear and speaking of interesting gossip.

The new Pearl looked uncomfortable or at least flushed by the spectacle, but said nothing. That was already a good trait – if she was to be Yellow Diamond’s Pearl, she would have to keep her mouth shut more often than not.

Yellow Diamond was surprised with the gift, and looked slightly taken back at the new responsibility, but not long after she began easing a little of her work to her Pearl, who took it eagerly and impressively.

“A strange gift,” Yellow admitted one evening as they planned an assault on Earth “but not unappreciated.”

Blue Diamond’s Pearl whispered softly to the new Pearl “That’s the closest you’ll get to hearing her say she likes you,” and the other Pearl seemed to loosen up slightly, her stiff and anxious composure going slack with pride.

Blue Diamond called her over, and Pearl sat, waiting.

“Yellow diamond, White diamond, and myself are going to initiate an assault on Earth against Rose Quartz.”

“Quartz?” Pearl questioned.

“Yes,” she replied, voice laced with disgust as she turned to look out one of the windows, ripples of cloth following her “ _Quartz_. She lowered her status for the sake of war and to hide her identity. But when we are on Earth, you will stay on the ship. You are not to leave it unless it is a dire emergency, and you will wait for me to come back.”

“Yes, my diamond.”

“Good girl.”

Sit.

Stay.

_Good girl._

///

Yellow’s Pearl paced nervously in the room, checking statistics several times over, shivering and muttering to herself. Blue’s sat, her legs twisted underneath herself, as though she was in quiet meditation.

“How can you just sit there when our diamonds are out there, fighting?!” Yellow’s snapped, gesturing to the door.

“Blue Diamond told me to sit and stay. All I can do for her is follow her orders,” she replied neutrally, expression soft “so that is what I will do.”

Yellow’s collapsed next to her, drumming her fingers on her knees. “How can you be so – so calm, when they could be out there, dying?”

“Do you have so little faith in your diamond?”

“No! But I-”

“And who told you that I was calm?” She rolled her shoulders, clasping her hands together and lowering her face so that her hair would stop tickling her lashes. “I am terrified. I am angry. I want to help. But I am a Pearl, and I cannot do any of these things.” She looked back up. “I was created to serve, and if sitting here is the only way I can serve her and help her, then I shall do it till the end of time, if need be.”

_My loyalty is the only way to show my love._

“…you’re right.”

There was a sudden crash, and they both turned to see some of the rebels had broken into the landed ship, attacking all they saw. One leapt up to the second story where they were sitting and landed on the railing, holding out twin swords.

The renegade pearl.

Yellow’s Pearl fled instantly, slipping under the bars of the railing and going into one of the engine rooms – Blue’s Pearl sat, motionless, staring at the renegade, unfazed and unwilling to back down.

“Why don’t you run from me? I can shatter you in an instant,” the renegade threatened, pointing a blade to the loyal Pearl.

“My lady told me to sit and stay,” she replied, and to her credit her voice did not tremble, though she could not help but clasp her hands in front of her chest. “I promised her.”

The renegade’s blade wavered. “Even if it means she will find you in pieces?”

“Then I would have stayed loyal to my lady until the very last,” she replied. “I am not a fighter – this is all I can do for her.” Her hands began to tremble, so she squeezed them tighter, until her knuckles went pale and her fingernails bit into her hands. “This is _all_ I can do for her.”

“Don’t you understand you can be so much more than this?” the renegade asked. “You could be anything – a fighter, even! You don’t have to stay here for whoever owns you, you are your own gem!”

She felt something brush her bangs and she anticipated a blow, but instead felt the renegade’s hand on her shoulder. “You can be more than a pet!”

There was a resounding boom, and fire leapt up from one side of the railing. The renegade swore and fled, taking out three gems in the process of her escape.

The Pearl sat, shivering.

Yellow’s came up from the other side, panting. “I managed to cause a small explosion to scatter some of the rebels, one of the diamonds will be back soon,” she pulled herself back up. “Hey, are you alright?”

She exhaled slowly.

“Yes. Yes, of course.”

///

The battle had not gone over well. Rose was stronger than they anticipated, and their armies had faltered with her passion.

The Pearl sat next to her diamond, feeling her fingers in her hair as Blue spoke with the others.

There was the memory of passionate blue eyes, pale skin and twin swords – of a voice stronger than her own “You are your own gem!” and she shifted slightly.

…was it possible? Could she be more than a pet? Could she live without her diamond?

Of course not.

The alternative was too frightening to consider.

She leaned her head against her Diamond’s knee.

“Good girl.”

_My loyalty is the only way to show my love for her._

_It is all I can do._

 

 


End file.
